Suit alleges East West Bank had appraisal showing one building on the site had about 205,000 square feet when building’s size was actually about 149,900 square feet

A Lubbock County jury has awarded Lubbock Tower, a limited liability company, $333,000 after a weeklong trial in District Court, finding a California bank selling the Omni building downtown in 2009 gave the buyer inaccurate information about the structure's size.

Steve Selinger was the buyer. His attorney, Carlton Hughes of Dallas, said proof in court showed East West Bank, based in Pasadena, Calif., knowingly overstated the size of the downtown office tower by more than 50,000 square feet.

Defense attorney David K. Bissinger of Houston did not respond to a telephone message or email from the Avalanche-Journal seeking comment.

Selinger bought the building in May 2009, and East West Bank financed that sale. It foreclosed on Selinger’s $1.76 million loan in October 2010 and took the building back.

The bank resold the building in February to Katy developer Hung Nguyen, who has transferred ownership to a limited liability company he set up.

The suit, which was transferred to Lubbock County from Dallas County in 2010, also alleged that East West Bank, which had taken title to the building in March 2009, had an appraisal showing one building on the site had about 205,000 square feet, when the building’s size was actually about 149,900 square feet.

And, the suit said, East West continued to use the bad appraisal’s number even as it was preparing to sue the appraiser for damages as a result of the inaccurate presentation.

The suit also claimed East West withheld information about asbestos contamination and the condition of the marble tile facade on the building’s upper exterior.

The building apparently had problems as far back as 2003 with chunks of the marble facade falling off.

Chunks of falling tiles prompted the city to close the 1400 block of Avenue K for several months in 2010.

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Value rise and fall

The land and buildings are currently on the Lubbock Central Appraisal District rolls at $2 million, a value that’s been declining since the 2009 values were set.